South Shore

“Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore.”  Thomas Campion

"Stormy Weather" by Dale Fleming

The century-old South Shore was originally one of three commuter rail lines linking Chicago to suburban communities to the north, south, and west.  It is now operated by the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) although freight trains still use the South Shore name.  The local baseball team that began operations in 2002 was officially named the Gary SouthShore RailCats in a bid to draw fans from throughout the area.  Calumet Region industrial cities originated on the southern shores of Lake Michigan, part of which has been preserved through incorporation within the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Transportation played a major role in the development of Northwest Indiana, not only freight and passenger trains but ore boats and streetcars that linked Region communities as well as horse-drawn conveyances and, eventually, automobiles. At present Burns International harbor handles more than 2.6-million tons of cargo annually.

The Times has published the third volume in its pictorial series “Memories Along the South Shore,” subtitled “More Than 125 Years of History in Photographs.”  It contains contributions from a dozen libraries and historical societies, including a hundred or so photos from IUN’s Calumet Regional Archives.  Many illustrating the city’s past ethnic diversity appeared in Ron Cohen and my pictorial history of Gary. In the Foreword, Doug Ross wrote: “In the broad sweep of human history, 125 years seems like the blink of an eye.  But, for Northwest Indiana, it’s a vast part of our history.  Hammond, the largest city in the Region, wasn’t even incorporated until 1884, and it’s one of the oldest.”  According to the 2010 census, Hammond’s population was estimated to have surpassed Gary’s by about 600, making Ross’s rather pejorative swipe at the “Steel City” technically correct. Ross gave special mention to the 1917 Dunes Pageant that highlighted the unique beauty and heritage of the south shore dunes.  As Danish-born landscape architect Jens Jensen eulogized:

  Magic are the Dunes where they meet the sea that bore them. There is an ocean-like grandeur in the broad stretches of beaches; the waves, chasing one another in madness, pitch high; the west wind roars and the sand blizzard rules; seagulls fill the air like giant snowflakes.  Then the Dune country is in its making; and a giant dram is enacted.

Jens Jensen in 1943

 among those hiking the dunes in 1916 was Stephen Mather, below

Included in “Memories Along the South Shore” are shots of Prairie Club members in 1916 hiking the dunes, including Stephen Mather, who became the first director of the National Park Service.  It’s an impressive volume, although it could have used more labor history shots and fewer photos of visiting celebrities and politicians (are two full pages devoted to a 1972 appearance by racist George C. Wallace at Hammond Civic Center really necessary?). 

Hatcher in 1983 and (below) 1972

There’s a great photo I’d never seen before of Mayor Richard Hatcher addressing protestors opposed to President Ronald Reagan’s invasion of the island nation of Grenada in October of 1983.  I was amazed to find one taken at a 1972 antiwar rally, where Mayor Hatcher was addressing the crowd, which included sons Dave and Phil.   Toni was there, too, but not in the picture, I recognized Joe Norrick, Monica Johnston, Julie Chary, and Karen Farabaugh, an IUN student and friend who was carrying a sign with the letters FTA, meaning “Fuck the Army.”  

"Therese Dreaming" by Balthus

Thousands have signed a petition requesting that the Metropolitan Museum of Art remove the 1938 painting “Therese Dreaming,” claiming that it objectifies women.  By that standard, many others would also have to go.  So far, the Met has refused, arguing that it presents a teachable moment.  Time’s Person of the Year: “The Silence Breakers” who launched the movement against sexual harassment.  None of the five on the cover was one of Trump’s numerous accusers. One might quibble over the inclusion of glamorous singer Taylor Swift on the cover, who had her bare ass grabbed under her skirt during a photo shot, motivated, no doubt, by the desire to boost sale, but the feature story does mention how poor, working women are perhaps sexually exploited worst of all.

Democrats have pressured 88-year-old Congressman John Conyers into resigning, and many, women especially, are calling for Senator Al Franken to do the same. On the other hand, the Republican National Committee is financing Alabama pervert Ray Moore’s campaign, the result of pressure from the President, but Republican Senate maverick Jeff Flake sent a check for a hundred dollars to Moore’s Democratic opponent Doug Jones with the hand-written explanation “Country over Party.”

Lighthouse basketball coach Marvin Rea and teacher Kelly Nicole Bradley died in a five-vehicle pileup on I-65.  Rea’s vehicle was stopped due to another accident when a Chevrolet box truck plowed into him, crushing his car between it and a flatbed trailer.  Rea was a teammate of Glenn Robinson at Gary Roosevelt and Purdue.  He had coached Theo Bowman Academy to a pair of state championships before being fired on specious ground by charter school honchos envious of his popularity.

I was able to miss bowling so I could attend IUN’s Holiday party, whose menu featured, among other things, vegetarian egg rolls, two types of chicken, cheese balls, fruit and veggies.  The History Department was well represented, and a choir composed of a half-dozen women and Ken Schoon (showing off impressive facial expressions and hand gestures, entertained.  When they sang “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” they added the words Kwanzaa and Hanukkah to the following two lines.  Chancellor Lowe noted that more people were in attendance than at his town hall meeting and added, straight-faced, that he might mention some enrollment and budget figures.  After a pause, he said, “Or maybe not.”

The 2017 South Shore Wall of Legends inductees are Tuskegee Airman and educator Quentin Smith and billionaire businessman Dean White.  The Tuskegee Airmen as a group had been selected ten years ago, so Smith’s inclusion was a surprise, but he was a towering figure who remained active in the community until shortly before his death in 2013 at age 94.  Earline Rogers recalled walking into English class in the fall of 1951 and observing him begin writing a sentence with his left hand and completing it with his right hand.  She told Times reporter Joyce Russell: I never again ran into a teacher like that.  He was innovative.”  John Davies, founder of the South Shore Legends Project, said that Smith was a hero both in war and peace: “He bravely defended our nation, stood up against segregation, and unselfishly served as a civic leader, educator, and mentor.”